All Replies on What am I?

looks like a home made screwdriver

-- David in Palm Bay, FL

Looks like an old straight slot to me.

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

Straight screwdriver

-- Sawdust and shavings are therapeutic

Homemade dovetail chisel.

-- Superdav "No matter where you go - there you are." http://chiselandforge.com

It looks like a coffin makers screwdriver or a cabinetmakers screwdriver. Both are similar in size and function.
Short, for getting into tight spaces.
Keith

-- Keith, Charlotte, MI www.julyswoodworks.com

Where are you? It looks like an oyster knife to me.

Check out these images.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I think Keith nailed it.
The picture doesn’t make me hungry, like Charlie’s did. :-)

-- Gene 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

I would have to agree with the confined space slotted screwdriver.

-- Please like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/daves-workshop

Many moons ago, in a wood shop far far away, in a land that tool improvements had forgotten… before the torx, the phillips, and the square drive screws, there was the simple slot head screw. It was a time of great frustration and loud cursing in the workshop; it was the time of the stripped screw head. This mystery tool is an ancient example of the tool that tried to drive those old screws.

Some people still try and use these screws, some people refuse to accept that they are obsolete, surpassed passed the technological improvements of superior drive heads. If you look for the screws in stores you can still find these relics of the past. They are in the obsolete department, right next to all the tablesaws without flesh sensing technology.

-- Jack T, John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life."

I just checked your profile. If you lived in a coastal city, I would stick with my oyster knife guess. But seeing as you’re in Kansas, I guess the screwdriver explanation makes more sense. :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Leatherworking tool?

-- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't tie his shoes. Blaze Foley

Looks like a piano tuners screwdriver.

-- I don't make mistakes, I have great learning lessons, Greg

Keith got it. I’ve always called it a cabinet screwdriver. Now, Keith where did the term casket screwdriver come from? In all my years of woodworking I never heard that term. That’s not to say it’s wrong, I would just like to know were you heard it.

Jack-T, Straight drive screws and bolts are not obsolete, PHILLIPS are obsolete. I’ve had very few straight drive screws or bolts cam out on me, but I’ve had thousands of Phillips cam out. I now try to use only square drive. I tried torx but the cost was too high for the advantage.

-- One who works with his hands is a laborer, his hands & head A craftsman, his hands, head & heart a artist

Pop, the SPAX screws with a Bosch or square bit have been working really nice for me of late – no cam out and easy to put in by hand.

-- David in Palm Bay, FL

Pop,
I was researching the term “Bench Dog” and ran across a site that had several pictures of the coffin/casket makers screwdrivers. I did a quick search and could not find the site. (Maybe I dreamed it)
I’ll track in down when I have a few minutes and let you know.
Keith

-- Keith, Charlotte, MI www.julyswoodworks.com

Looks like a fine piece of leaveright!

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

Thanks Keith. No big rush, I’m just curious.

Pop

-- One who works with his hands is a laborer, his hands & head A craftsman, his hands, head & heart a artist

Thanks guys. I would have never thought screw driver. Charlie, we do have clams in Kansas but I don’t think I would eat any of them. For that matter I wouldn’t eat one if I was on the coast either. I’m going to sharping it and use it for a marking knife. Jack T is the winner! Not because he was first, but his story was the best. Who ever heard of a screw with just one slot! How silly. ;-)

-- Bryan

Looks like the screwdriver that came with a Stanley 45 combination plane. if it is, it’s collectable.

-- The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

wb8nbs – (not fair using your call sign, northern ohio maybe?) You know, it does look familiar and easily could be. Erector sets had a screwdriver that were simular to this if I remember correctly.

-- David in Palm Bay, FL

No dbray45. I still have my screwdriver from my 1947 Christmas present. It was a giant Erector set. The screwdriver has a wood handle but it’s scaled down for small hands & about 4 inches long. It’s similar but “no cigar”.

-- One who works with his hands is a laborer, his hands & head A craftsman, his hands, head & heart a artist

Looks like a gunsmith’s turnscrew; ie, screwdriver.

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

That is what they call a turnscrew which is a form of a screwdriver. One place they are used in gunsmithing. Sometimes, they are also referred to as cabinet makers screwdrivers because they work so well for slotted screwdrivers.

Doc

-- Hey, woodworking ain't brain surgery. Just do something and keep trying till you get it. Doc

here’s one on eBay right now… kinda confirms what the others have said, but who would have ever used this specific type? http://cgi.ebay.ca/Old-P-F-Berninghaus-Sons-Turnscrew-Screwdriver-/310296359578?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483f1ab29a

-- Einstein: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." I'm Poopiekat!!

Since I was first to use the term ” turnscrew”, what do I win? :-))

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

Mine is in the box with my fathers Stanley 45 that was handed down toe in 1957. I don’t think that it came with the Stanley 45, but that is where my father always kept it. My 45 was not a collectors item. It was a used tool. Not all the cutters are still with it.

-- Nils, So. Central MI. Wood is honest.Take the effort to understand what it has to tell you before you try to change it.

similar item

http://cgi.ebay.com/STANLEY-No-45-type-screwdriver-turnscrew-3-ship-/110648520977?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c32a7111

-- The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

Pop,

Straight-drive screws will never go out of style. After all, you have to have something to start the driver off on a straight path so it can skitter across your freshly finished project with SOME directional stability. ;)

Whit

-- Even if to be nothing more than a bad example, everything serves a purpose. cippotus

screwdriver…

-- Rick

Paint can opener.

-- Don - I wood work if I could. Redmond WA.

Future marking knife, if you bevel it just right.

-- Make furniture that lasts as long as the tree - Ryan

uhhh… The Jury’s in, I think…

-- Einstein: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." I'm Poopiekat!!

Looks like a screwdriver to me

It is a screw driver, looks almost like the one that is with my stanely #45 for setting up its various cutters and guides. could be just a screw driver well worn. Would be nice to find the plane it goes to

Screwdriver

BSmith: Hey, you found a really great way to ”Out” the people who don’t bother to read other peoples’ responses before posting their own. Way Kool!

-- Einstein: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." I'm Poopiekat!!